​​TEam sunshine performance

Team Sunshine Performance is a Philadelphia based company of theater and dance creators looking for something unique, passionate, dark, and hilarious from contemporary American live performance.  Formed in 2010, Team Sunshine has created multiple performances and experiences through its own brand of collaborative play-making and writing.  Team Sunshine is committed to exploring unique ideas in art, entertainment, and sustainable careers for its collaborators.

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about the company

Team Sunshine is dedicated to serving as a hub for the imaginative consideration of contemporary American culture and what it means to be a participant in it. Founded by dance and physical-theatre artists, Team Sunshine has produced dozens of ensemble-created performance works and interactive-gathering events. Spanning a wide range of aesthetic styles, a critical throughline of all of the work has been an intentional inquiry into community participation and creating opportunities for empathy-building and care.

Regional and national presenters of Team Sunshine include FringeArts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, National Asian American Theater Festival, Ko Festival, and The Barnes Foundation, with works commissioned by the Rosenbach Museum and Library and by PECO/Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. Funding and production support has been provided by Knight Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Samuel S. Fels Fund, NALAC, The Orchard Project, SPACE at Ryder Farm, Charlotte Cushman Foundation, National Performance Network, Network of Ensemble Theaters, National Endowment for the Arts, and New England Foundation for the Arts.

Team Sunshine Performance is a Network of Ensemble Theaters member, and a 501c3 not-for-profit organization.

​PEOPLE

Benjamin Camp (he/him)
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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​Benjamin Camp is an performer/creator and a Co-Founder of Team Sunshine Performance. He was lead artist for Team Sunshine’s Punchkapow, Terrarium, Zombie Defense Consultations, and Your Optimism Is Not Required as well as a core collaborator on all Team Sunshine projects and events including JapanAmerica Wonderwave and Henry IV: Your Prince and Mine, and The Sincerity Project. Benjamin was awarded the 2014 Independence Foundation Fellowship, was a 2015 Haas Emerging Artist Nominee, and has had the pleasure of working with Pig Iron Theatre Company, Shakespeare in Clark Park, Theater Horizon, and the Rosenbach Museum and Library, among others. Benjamin graduated with a BA Theater Major from Swarthmore College and completed the full program of Lecoq style training in physical theater and ensemble created theater at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA). He has also co-founded Camp Bonfire, a summer camp for adults, and serves the artist community as a Realtor and Team Lead in the Kelly Group at Elfant Wissahickon Realtors.

Alex Torra (he/they)
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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​Alex Torra is a Miami-born, Philadelphia-based director, performer, producer, and educator. He is the Co-Founder and Resident Director of Team Sunshine Performance, where he serves as one of the company’s primary administrators and has directed most of the company’s full-length works including PUNCHKAPOW, JAPANAMERICA WONDERWAVE, HENRY IV: YOUR PRINCE AND MINE, and THE SINCERITY PROJECT (Installments #1, 2, and 3), and ¡BIENVENIDOS BLANCOS! OR WELCOME WHITE PEOPLE!. Alex is also an Associate Artist and former Associate Artistic Director of Pig Iron Theatre Company, where he has worked as Performer/Creator and Creative Producer on many of the company’s works since 2007. Alex received a 2018 Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and he has also received fellowships from the Independence Foundation, the Philadelphia Live Arts Brewery, the Princess Grace Foundation (the Grace Le Vine Theatre Award), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and NY's Drama League. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.F.A. in Directing from Brown University. Alex currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Swarthmore College, where he directs often and teaches Devised Performance, Directing, and Acting.

Makoto Hirano (he/him)
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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Makoto Hirano is a Philadelphia-based choreographer and theatre artist. His award-winning, original performance projects have been presented nationally in numerous venues and festivals including Off-Broadway at the National Asian American Theatre Festival (NYC), DanceTruck (Atlanta, GA), Ringling Museum (Sarasota, FL), Yale University (CT), and FringeArts (Philadelphia, PA). As a freelance collaborating performer, Hirano has originated over 20 roles, with highlights that include projects with Bill Irwin, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, and Thaddeus Phillips/Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental. Hirano is a founding member and current advisor to the arts collective PAPA (Philly Asian Performing Artists), and co-founder of installation art duo Gatto+Hirano. From 2007-2014 Hirano was a Facilitator with Philly/Baltimore/South Carolina-based professional development program Artists U. A former U.S. Marine, Hirano earned his BFA in dance at Temple University.

Phoebe Schaub (she/her)
OPERATIONS MANAGER
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Phoebe Schaub is a multimedia artist, specializing in live performance. She is the Operations Manager of Team Sunshine Performance, a former Teaching Artist and Mentor of the Resident Playwrights at Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and was the Associate Producer of The Philadelphia Thing's Trade School festival from 2019-2022. She produced the short films Scabs (directed by Tommy Butler; WORLD PREMIERE: Palm Springs International Shortfest 2022, OFFICIAL SELECTION: New Hampshire Film Festival 2022, OFFICIAL SELECTION: Charlotte Film Festival 2022) and Everything You Owe Me (directed by Tommy Butler; OFFICIAL SELECTION: Reading Film Festival, Miami Film Festival Quarter Finalist, Mountain Shadow Film Competition Finalist, Bucks Fever Film Festival, Diamond Screen Film Festival, Temple University Best Graduate Film Winner). She is a co-founder and former company member of Found Theater Company, a frequent collaborator of musical act soleCALIBUR, and previously co-produced and curated the Secret Show Series at Painted Bride Art Center. She received her BA in theater, with a concentration in directing, from Temple University.

April Rose (she/they)
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER
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April Rose is a Philadelphia based artist, project manager, producer, and administrator who specializes in festival platforms and artist services. They currently manage independent artist programs for the annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival. They also produced the first annual Philadelphia Chalk Festival in collaboration with Mural Arts Philadelphia, managed the PCAH supported performance project, ARC, and served as the Operations Manager of the Painted Bride Arts Center.  April Rose received a BA from Temple University. 

Jackie Andrews (she/they)
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE
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Jackie Andrews is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, editor, and arts administrator based in rural Maryland. Across media, Jackie’s work explores queerness and gender identity, and engages their interests in collecting, archiving, and art history with a touch of wit. Jackie’s work has been exhibited in galleries across the United States; at New York City Jewelry Week 2019 and 2020; and at Munich Jewelry Week 2020 & 2021.
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Jackie was the co-founder of Power Clash Art, an experimental publishing platform in operation June 2020-2021, and the Editor of Future Heirloom, NYC Jewelry Week’s blog, from August 2021-2022; she is also a columnist for Metalsmith Magazine. In addition to her work with Team Sunshine, Jackie currently works as a freelance grant writer for several arts organizations and individual artists in the Mid-Atlantic region. Jackie received her BFA with Departmental Honors in Sculpture from Towson University.

Our Values

AUTHENTICITY: We practice supporting ourselves and our collaborators to welcome the full spectrum of each of our identities (experiences, superpowers, curiosities, areas of growth) into the room.

COLLABORATION: We practice building creative processes and products in partnership and on teams, sharing in the rewards and hardships of our collective efforts.

EXPERIMENTATION: We practice building processes and products that are simultaneously healthier and more moving with every iteration, through a commitment to consistent reflection and adaptation.

RESPECT: We practice acknowledging the efforts and time of all collaborators and patrons engaging with the company, while striving to uphold our own responsibilities and agreements with integrity.